Friday, July 30, 2010

The new division of labor: Adding profits, subtracting workers Washington Post ...If Chamber President Tom Donohue wants to round up those responsible for the lack of job growth in this country, all he has to do is call a meeting of his board of directors. In Michigan Visit, Trade Talk Is Taboo Wall Street Journal ...On his first presidential visit to the heart of the American auto industry Friday, President Barack Obama is likely to avoid a subject that's high on Detroit's list of concerns—trade.Thrifty Rivals Know Value of Dollar Wall Street Journal ...Avis Budget vowed not to let Hertz carjack Dollar Thrifty, but its own offer still has a whiff of grand theft auto about it.

United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard argues that the federal government needs to spend money on manufacturing.

...After all the support America has given the financial sector – estimated to total more than $4 trillion – it’s time for Congress to invest in the productive sector, the one that creates jobs, real wealth and American power,

Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will soon pass “one bill after another” supporting American manufacturing. The House last week passed a bill to train people for jobs in emerging industries, which the Teamsters support. Another bill passed to ease American industries’ access to raw materials.

With these measures, we are calling for a strategy to strengthen our manufacturing base and create jobs. We will help U.S. clean energy technology firms market and sell their products here and around the world – ensuring that American energy and know how power the 21st century. And we will take steps to reduce our trade deficit, strengthening our economy and our national security.

California's Building Bust Choking Off Jobs Wall Street Journal ... California's construction industry continues to hemorrhage jobs, helping to explain why unemployment across the state remains so much worse than elsewhere in the country.Avis Tops Hertz Bid For Dollar Wall Street Journal ...Avis Budget Group Inc. announced Wednesday that it is offering $46.50 a share for Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc., topping rival Hertz Global Holdings Inc.'s $39-a-share proposal.Job Subsidies Also Provide Help to Private Sector New York Times ...States are putting hundreds of thousands of people directly into jobs.Ports trade tricks for greener jobs Politico ...Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) — with over 55 colleagues from 15 states — is leading the effort Thursday to end the Third World practices of our nation’s ports by introducing the CLEAN Ports Act.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Public Employees Get More Benefits Wall Street Journal ...88% of state and local government workers had access to employer-sponsored medical plans, compared with 71% of private-sector workers

UAL-Continental Merger Moves Ahead Wall Street Journal ...Negotiations between UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and Continental AirlinesInc. are picking up pace, with parties believing a merger deal could be reached at the end of this month or early MayThe jobs machine grinds to a halt Washington Post ...Ain't no hiring. And ain't likely to be any for a good long time.Qualms build over consumer agency Politico ...The BCFP will also enjoy broad rule-making and enforcement authority over virtually all financial institutions in the nation.Companies hold record $837B in cash, yet won't hire workers USA Today ...instead of spending on the typical things, such as expanding and hiring people, companies are mostly pocketing the money and stuffing it under their corporate mattresses.Cities, counties face job cuts Las Vegas Review-Journal ...Nearly half a million city and county government jobs could be eliminated nationwide in the next two years because of budget shortfalls, a new study estimates.

Treasury Secretary Geithner says tax cuts for rich should expire Washington Post ...the White House wants to extend Bush-era tax cuts that benefit families earning less than $250,000 a year. But he said President Obama believes cuts affecting the top tax brackets should be allowed to expire on Jan. 1 to help reduce the nation's bloated budget deficit.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Thanks to the Washington Post's Ezra Klein, we have the results of a recent National Federation of Independent Business survey. It shows small businesses aren't mostly concerned with taxes or regulation. They're concerned about lack of demand.

Workers on Doomed Rig Voiced Concerns About Safety New York Times ...A confidential survey of workers on the Deepwater Horizon in the weeks before the oil rig exploded showed that many of them were concerned about safety practices and feared reprisals if they reported mistakes or other problems.Maine Giving Social Security Another Look New York Times ...Maine legislators have prepared a detailed plan for shifting state employees into Social Security and are considering whether to adopt it. They acknowledge it will not solve their problem in the short term but see long-term advantages.Program to Help Prevent Foreclosures Falls Short New York Times ...Only 390,000 homeowners have seen their mortgage terms permanently modified since the $50 billion program was announced in March 2009.No Fed Plans to Give More Support, Bernanke Says New York Times ...The chairman of the Federal Reserve, in saying that it had no immediate plans to provide additional support to the economy, dashed the hopes of some economists and executives who have been pushing for action to add momentum to the sluggish recovery.Restore the Estate Tax! Newsweek ...abolishing the estate tax massively increases the deficit in order to help a few very wealthy people.Mine Citations Focus on Ventilation, Fire, Electricity NPR ...Citations for safety and health violations by operators of underground coal mines have increased by nearly a third since 2006.Workers To Vote on Teamsters Contract Modesto Bee ...One of the largest cheese manufacturers in the United States is on the cusp of signing a new labor contract with Teamster Local 386, which represents about 100 workers at the company's Newman cheese plant.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Most Americans actually believe they won't receive any Social Security benefits at all. Mother Jones blogger Kevin Drum has a nifty chart illustrating the results from a recent Gallup poll that show six in 10 people don't think they'll get a dime from Social Security. Drum concludes

That's loony tunes territory, and it's now what most Americans believe.

Dean Baker believes that a concerted public relations campaign by investment banker Pete Peterson is undermining Americans' confidence in Social Security.

Peterson, a Wall Street investment banker, has pledged $1 billion to a foundation that has cutting Social Security and Medicare as its major goals. He has spoken widely around the country telling people that Social Security is going broke and that it has no trust fund. He has enlisted prominent political figures, including former President Bill Clinton in this effort.

Baker points out that other groups are eroding support for Social Security, including President Obama's deficit commission.

S.E.C. Pursuing More Cases Tied to Financial Crisis New York Times ...the S.E.C. is continuing to press for accountability and restitution for the upheaval in financial and housing markets in 2007 and 2008, which led to the sweeping regulatory bill that President Obama is scheduled to sign on Wednesday. Wal-Mart Is Sued Over Care Wall Street Journal ...The lawsuit alleges that Wal-Mart broke state and federal laws by using a subsidiary to control the treatment for employees with workplace injuries.AFL-CIO plugs Warren for consumer protection chief The Hill ...The nation's largest labor federation endorsed Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday to head the new consumer financial protection agency.FedEx Increases Lobbying Spending to Fight FAA Union Provision Bloomberg ...FedEx Corp., trying to defeat legislation that would make it easier for its employees to unionize, almost doubled its lobbying spending in the first six months of this year compared with the same period a year ago. ...FedEx spent $11.6 million on lobbying between January and June...UPS spent $2.9 million to lobby between January and June.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

A Colombian journalist, once praised by U.S. State Department officials, is now denied a visa to visit the U.S. Those who've followed events in Colombia will immediately jump to the correct conclusion: the journalist criticized the government.

The Colombian government has deemed Morris too cozy with terrorists, and the USgovernment is taking the word of its closest ally in Latin America, ignoring Morris’s colleagues and human rights organizations who consider him a courageous, call-’em-as-he-sees-’em journalist.

Morris produces a TV news show called “Contravia,’’ which translates to “going against the traffic.’’ And when it comes to covering President Álvaro Uribe, Morris has consistently gone the wrong way down what that government considers a one-way street.

Cullen points out that reporting in Colombia is dangerous.

There have been 43 journalists killed there in the last 18 years. There is enormous pressure on journalists to be seen as taking the right side, and in the government’s view the right side is always its side.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Two years and counting into the most severe financial collapse in nearly a century, bankers still rule. Republicans protect bankers from reform, yet amazingly masquerade as the party of populist backlash. If Democrats let the right play this double game, shame on them. It's only possible because too many Democrats are too cozy with the same bankers.

Kuttner was prompted to write because he's rightly concerned that financial reform may not make it through Congress. What looked like a sure thing a few weeks ago is now in jeopardy because of the death of Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia and the wavering of several Republican senators who previously voted for the bill.

Kuttner tells us

...sure enough, three of the four Republican supporters have gone wobbly. Olympia Snowe of Maine voted for the Senate bill, but is now making equivocal noises about whether she'll support the conference bill (which is weaker in some respects than the Senate's version.) Likewise Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

The always wily Scott Brown of Massachusetts threatened to withhold his vote until the House and Senate leaders agreed to scrap a $19 billion tax on large banks. He voted for the senate bill, but now Brown is warning that he may vote against the final bill anyway. Apparently there is no honor among thieves. The financial industry was the largest donor to Brown's Senate campaign.

The bill isn't perfect, but it's a desperately needed improvement. Prudent regulation would have averted the global economic crisis. Without it, we may well see another financial meltdown.

...no special requirements that take into consideration, much less try to counter, Panama's banking secrecy rules, lax financial service regulations or designation as a venue for money laundering and tax evasion. In fact, if the Panama FTA were adopted, it would make these matters of bipartisan concern worse.

Through April 2010, more than 2,700 trade unionists have been assassinated in the last two decades. Virtually no one is prosecuted or convicted for these murders, with approximately a 96% impunity rate.

Friday, July 2, 2010

House Minority Leader John Boehner accused the Democrats of snuffing out the America he grew up in. He's 61. Michael Tomaskey describes the America of Boehner's youth:

...the top marginal tax rate on wealthy earners was 90%. It had gone up there during the war, and five, 10, 15 years after armistice, no sizable group, Democrat or Republican, felt any strong urge to lower it.

In the America John Boehner grew up in, private-sector union membership was around or above 30%. Today's figure is 7%. The right to form a union was broadly accepted. Outside of a few small turbulent pockets, there was no such thing as today's union-busting law firms hired by management to go into workplaces and intimidate workers.

China is out for China, period, and that is a stance that the US would be well advised to emulate, rather than being brainwashed (or bribed) into thinking that the interests of large multinational are aligned with national goals.

By Ed Smith's math, the CEO of Walmart earns more in an hour than his employees will earn in a year.

Smith, an alderman in Chicago, presented posters at a city council meeting showing that Walmart CEO Michael Duke's $35 million salary, when converted to an hourly wage, worked out to $16,826.92. By comparison, at a Walmart store planned for the Windy City's Pullman neighborhood, new employees to be paid $8.75 an hour would gross $13,650 a year.